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Accept Credit Cards with an iPhone!

As almost everyone knows by now, the iPhone has revolutionized the mobile world and does some pretty amazing things that no one thought possible just a few short years ago. It seems as though every industry has found a way to harness the power of the iPhone, and the payment processing industry is no exception. One of the latest gadgets to come out of the mobile smartphone world allows anyone to accept credit card payments right on their device.

Gone are the days when someone can say they will pay you back later because they do not have cash. Now, thanks to some pretty innovative payment companies and one very famous Twitter founder, anyone with an iPhone can accept, swipe and process credit cards. The money can even be deposited into their checking account as soon as the next business day.

Probably the most popular credit card processing device for the iPhone is called Square. Square is a small, quarter-sized device that plugs into the headphone jack of an iPhone and allows the person to swipe a credit card. The card reader works with a free app that transmits the payment data directly to the processor for an immediate approval, just as it would work in a grocery store.

Square was founded in 2009 by the co-founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey. Mr. Dorsey and a friend came up with the idea when they were trying to figure out how someone could accept credit cards every once and a while without having to pay all the ridiculous costs that come along with a standard merchant account.

Square comes with no monthly fees, no annual fees, and very simple to understand processing rates that are only charged when a transaction is made. The rates are relatively competitive with standard merchant accounts, but for the individual that does not accept credit cards very often or a business that wants to expand their payment capabilities, the ease of use totally makes it worth the price.

There is no cost to sign up for a square reader, and they will send it to you for free in a few days. As mentioned before, the device works with an app that is installed on the iPhone, and if the reader is not present, can be used to manually key a card in for processing. The cost of keying in a card is a little higher, but compared to not accepting a payment at all it seems pretty good.